We are having our second Mason Puncher Band Auction this Saturday, February 1st. It will be hosted live on KHLB 102.5 and held at the band hall. We will start somewhere around 9 a.m. and go until around 3 p.m.
High School band seniors and juniors will help host the auction on the radio.

In November a Prime Time group of fourth graders at Mason Elementary began reading The Family Under the Bridge about a homeless family in Paris. This book spurred the students to explore ways to help people in Mason. Pastor Cliff Krcha spoke to the class and explained the available services and needs of our Mason County Food Bank.

The Library Board for 2014 met on January 22 to install officers and new members. Officers for 2014 are Margaret Persky, President; Julio Ramon, Vice-President; Glendene Underwood, Secretary; and Barbara Brunken, Historian. The Library Board is appointed by the County Commissioners to serve as liaison between the library and its supporting community.

The families of the Senior Class of 2014 are planning an event for our graduates called Project Graduation. Project Graduation is used by many high schools across the United States. It is a supervised, organized, alcohol and drug free celebration for the senior class that takes place the night of graduation.

The Mason Youth Baseball and Softball league is having their annual Hamburger Fundraiser and Registration kickoff at 11:00 am on Sunday, February 9th at the west end of the Courthouse. The grilled burger combo includes chips and a drink for only $7. Come out to support our local baseball and softball teams and register your kids to play.

I was unable to personally attend the Dallas Safari Club’s annual convention in January, but I have it on good authority the event was a huge success. Besides the usual festivities, a special auction was held to help bring the black rhino back from the brink of extinction. You would think an animal as big as a rhinoceros would know better than to go around teetering on brinks, but there you go.

The Mason Lions club met Tuesday, January 21st, for its regular weekly meeting. There were 33 members and one visitor in attendance.
Lion Bruce Lehmberg was responsible for the program and spoke about Texas Land Grants.
Bruce said that the majority of the town of Mason is in the Fisher-Miller Survey.

It’s COLD not Cooler! It’s WINDY not breeze! It’s Winter not Summer! Need I say any more?
If you have a computer and receive emails from your friends, you’ve most likely gotten some of the photo’s of Wal-Mart shoppers. So, I really make an effort not to go to Wal-Mart looking like a Goon!

Create a tasty casserole dish from simple foods. Just choose an item from each category and follow the directions. Use your imagination! Each casserole serves four adults. I love this handout I came across from Utah State University Extension. Email me at kmpowell@tamu.edu for a copy and I’ll email you the pdf or print you out one.

Vitamins That Work
Vitamins and other supplements need to work. I find that some very basic nutritional supplements help almost everybody.
A good multivitamin is the first basic. What makes a multivitamin good is the quality of the contents along with the technology used to encapsulate or tablet the contents.
The better vitamins do not have pharmaceutical glaze, artificial coloring, several kinds of cellulose, nor do they contain synthetic vitamins such as synthetic E or dl-alpha tocopher ...

Marian Leifeste, Tina Sanders and Nea Young are having birthday celebrations on Feb. 1st. Have a really special day!
Ground Hog Day is Feb. 2nd. I am ready for spring.
There is an important Finance committee meeting today, Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Choir practice for men and others is today, Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Progress on the ramp is coming along.

We are on the cusp of THAT DAY, Super Bowl Sunday. We won’t need reminders from camels tromping around to make sure we know what day it is.
A grand majority of folks in the free world—as well as a big chunk of others in shackles—will put more serious pursuits aside, deeply interested—or appearing so—in the year’s ultimate sports spectacle.
I confess to planning a “home-gating” party--as opposed to “tail-gating”--with the promise of a big pot of queso.

You’ll notice that I’m not listing any fiction new arrivals today, and, unfortunately, it’s because none have arrived. Our December and January book shipments have been very slow in coming—perhaps due to weather delays—but for whatever reason, our January 15 order won’t be here until January 28 at the earliest.

So long, January.
Brrrrrrr.
Thanks for the big moon.
And all those stars.
Thanks for the sunny days.
And the ice.
And cold.
‘Tis Winter after all.
And all of you is it.
Not just part of you, like December.
Or March.
Just you.
And February.
Winter.
Full blast.
24/7.
Start to finish.
Through and through.
And Winter it has been.
Frozen birdbath.
Frozen pond.
Frozen pipes.
And then 75 degrees.
Bluebonnets don’t know whether to live or die.
They show their leaves.
Then g ...

Throughout my life, I've never been terribly good at maintaining a "laser focus" on just one thing at a time. Long before the term multi-tasking became part of popular language, I took great pleasure in trying to see how many tasks I could manage to carry on at any one time.

A Health and Wellness Program Offered by the Wesley Nurse Health Ministries™
The Wesley Nurse at First United Methodist Church invites you to take part in a Lunch ‘N Learn program open to all citizens in the Mason area. The primary focus of this free program is Healthy Aging. According to research, the older population in 2030 is projected to be twice as large as it was in 2000.

One year ago the Friends of the Library began partnering with the Mason Library to offer Spanish-to-English classes for adults who want to learn to speak English. Since then over 25 Spanish-speaking adults and 20 volunteers have participated in this program. This is remarkable given the size of our community.

What are we: We are a camp to help kids 7-18 year old’s, deal with real life struggles in a positive/non-aggressive manner. We teach life lessons and coping skills to all kids who attend. We expose campers to fun activities in a outdoor setting, fun can be had right in your hometown.

The Mason County Cancer Benefit Team meeting date has been changed from February 3rd to February 8th. The meeting will be held in the MISD cafeteria at 5:30p.m.
Please help spread the word and we are looking forward to seeing you there!

The Puncher Club is hosting the annual Football Banquet on Thursday, January 30th at 6:30 p.m. in the school cafeteria. A BBQ meal will be served thanks to Wayne Carl and Tana Hofmann. Tickets will be $10 and are available at the door.
Former Coach Chris Wilde from Wall will be our guest speaker.

The Mason County Republican Women would like to invite all to attend a candidate forum to be held on Monday, Feb. 3rd at 6:30 in the evening at the Lutheran Church at 104 Magnolia St. in Mason.
Republican candidates vying for positions on the ballot for the following races will be represented: US 11th Congressional District, State Representative District 53, District Attorney for Judicial District 452, District Court Judge for District 452, as well as Mason County Attorney.
Robert Owens, Rep ...

The Mohair Council of America will hold its Annual Membership meeting on Thursday, February 5, 2014, at Zentner’s Daughter Restruant, 1901 Knickerbocker Road in San Angelo, TX. This will be a one day event. The Winter Meeting of the Mohair Producers Board will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the Mohair Council Directors and Membership Meeting beginning at 10:00 a.m.

It was standing room only at the Stribling Room last week when Mrs. Jutta Dreyer gave her program at the Mason Co. M. Beven Eckert Memorial Library. Her poignant memories of what it was like to be a child in Berlin during World War II offered a uniquely personal perspective on the war.

A Health and Wellness Program Offered by the Wesley Nurse Health Ministries™
The Wesley Nurse at First United Methodist Church invites you to take part in a grief and loss support group open to all citizens in the Mason area. The focus of the support group is to offer a time of listening and caring while participants work through the loss of someone, or something dear to them.

These are images of the San Saba Quilt Show's Best of show winner from Fredonia, Carolyln Thomas. She also won first in Art Quilt, Second in Contemporary Quilt, and second in the Wall Hanging Quilt division.
Best of Show:
Carolyn Thomas, Fredonia, “Lion of Juda”
(photo credit: Whitley Photographic Services)
Mayor’s Choice:
Rebecca Yarbrough, Nacogdoches, “Millifiori Revival”
( MayersQuilt.jpg) (photo credit: Whitley Photographic Services)
Antique Quilt Winners:
1st: Dorothy S ...

70 high school students in Pioneers Youth Leadership and 5 Pioneers alumni serving as counselors in the program participated in the Pioneers State Leadership Forum in Austin last week. Over two days, the students worked with state agencies and elected officials to find ways to meet the challenges that rural Texas communities face regarding water, education and economic development.
“These high school students in Pioneers are working hard to develop solutions to the most critical problems ...

In 2013, the Hill Country CattleWomen awarded 13 scholarships totaling $23,500.00, and we hope to match or even exceed that amount in 2014.
We are announcing our 1st Annual Spring Round-Up Fundraiser to be held Saturday, April 26, 2014 from 6:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. The Round-Up will be held at Historic Pat’s Hall located at 406 Post Oak Rd., Fredericksburg, Texas.

On Wednesday, January 22nd, the Mason Study Club presented a donation to Patti Grote, Librarian for the Mason County Library. This check represents the proceeds from The Club’s “Chili on the Square” that was in November.
The weather that day was beautiful and the turnout was tremendous. (It never ceases to amaze this author how generous the people and businesses in Mason are.)
Presenting the check to Patti is Club president, Judy Branch.

The winner of this year's Short Stop Big Buck contest, with a score of 54.25, is nine-year-old Jakub Kaderka of El Paso. He is the son of Kelly and Christina Kaderka, and grandson of Gladys and the late Gus Kaderka.

Students achieving the Dean’s List for the 2013 fall semester have been announced by Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas.
To be eligible for the Dean’s List, students must be enrolled fulltime at ASU and must maintain a 3.25 or better grade point average on a 4.0 scale.
Mason students on the list are: Garrett R.

Beatrice Morales is assisting people with information and enrollment in ACA (Obamacare).
She is at the Mason Clinic Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. She would prefer people to make appointments and can be reached at 347-5926 those days.
She is also at the Brady Rehab Center Monday, Tuesday and Friday.

On Friday, January 31, the Mason County M. Beven Eckert Memorial Library will begin a new program for preschoolers. On Fridays at 10:30 A.M., Dutch, a chocolate Lab therapy dog, will be at the library for Story Time with a Dog. Dutch went to visit hospitals in Lubbock prior to moving to Mason, and Mitzi Lehne, Dutch’s owner, said he was ready to work again.

The Mason Independent School District will be able to install energy-efficient and emergency lighting in schools with the help of a community development grant.
LCRA and the City of Mason provided the $25,000 grant to help replace the high school’s fluorescent lamps and incandescent bulbs, installed in 1976, with more energy-efficient lights.

The Mason Community Foundation will renovate its community thrift store, housed in the old Mason post office building, with the help of a community development grant.
LCRA and the City of Mason provided the $8,200 grant to help complete the remodeling of the old post office, located on the southwest corner of the town square, into a thrift store operated by the Mason Community Foundation.

The Mason Garden Club met on January 21, 2014, at the Mason Library.
Linda Laury spoke about the different steps needed to start a community garden. Last year there were donations of fresh vegetables for the Food Bank clients, which were appreciated. The Food Bank also plans to have a Food Bank garden in the near future.

On the 20th of January, at our regular monthly meeting, State VFW Commander Sylvia Sanchez was visiting the Post. She came to recognize the members of the Post that participate in the honor guard. Also she presented a token commanders coin to the WW2 members of the Post that was present.

A new chiropractic office has opened in Fredericksburg, and is ready to accept patients from other areas of the Hill Country.
Dr. Emily Morales-Ball, DC is a native of Fredericksburg and an honor graduate from FHS where she participated in multiple clubs and sports venues. Upon graduation, she spent a year in Chile as a representative of the International Rotary Exchange program.

Fairmount Minerals recently donated $1000 to the Mason Education Foundation. They also donated $500 to the Mentor program in support of Fairmount employee Dixie Atchison's participation in the mentor program. Left to right: Megan Bierschwale, Dixie Atchison and Shanda Schmidt.

Wilma Griffith, of Mason, passed away on Wednesday, January 22, at the age of 89.
Funeral services for Wilma Griffith were held on Saturday, January 25, at 10:00 a.m. at the Mason Funeral Home Chapel. Interment followed in the Crosby Cemetery.
Visitation with the family was Friday evening from 5 to 7 p.m.